Geology: Most life on Earth will be WIPED OUT in a billion years due to a drop in oxygen levels - Daily Mail

An extreme plunge in atmospheric oxygen levels will in a billion years' time will wipe out most of the life on the Earth, a study has predicted.

The findings suggest that atmospheric oxygen is not a permanent fixture of habitable planets, which has implications for our search for life on other worlds.

 An extreme plunge in atmospheric oxygen levels will in a billion years' time will wipe out most of the life on the Earth, a study has predicted.

Before 2.4 billion years ago, the Earth's atmosphere was rich in methane, ammonia, water vapour and the noble gas neon, but lacked free oxygen.

The new findings suggest that, in Earth's future, the atmosphere could swing back the other way — and possibly give the world back to anaerobic microorganisms.

However, the findings suggest that — from the point of view of a hypothetical distant alien observer — the detection of atmospheric oxygen on Earth might only be possible for around two–three tenths of our planet's lifetime.

The Fermi Paradox questions why, given the estimated 200bn-400bn stars and at least 100bn planets in our galaxy, there have been no signs of alien life. .

Other possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox include that no other intelligent species have arisen in the universe, intelligent alien species are out there — but lack the necessary technology to communicate with Earth

The so-called Zoo hypothesis claims intelligent alien life is out there, but deliberately avoids any contact with life on Earth to allow its natural evolution.